


5 Times Alex wore Zach's clothes in Private + The One Time He Wore Them in Public

by LIKEABOSS1234



Series: Zalex Week 2k20 [5]
Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Self-Harm, Sharing Clothes, Tumblr: zalexweek2k20, zalexweek2k20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:48:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25202716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LIKEABOSS1234/pseuds/LIKEABOSS1234
Summary: Pretty self explanatory•Day 5 of Zalex Week
Relationships: Zach Dempsey/Alex Standall
Series: Zalex Week 2k20 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818361
Comments: 1
Kudos: 69





	5 Times Alex wore Zach's clothes in Private + The One Time He Wore Them in Public

1.

Alex sits on the couch at one of Bryce’s pool parties. He hated these things yet something kept calling him back. A sweetheart with a strawberry allergy and a love for marine biology. Said sweetheart was currently playing video games with him on the couch. The other boy wore a blue hoodie that was missing the pull string, a white t-shirt and blue jeans. 

“You’re a really good shot Alex,” Zach says as they win another round. He slaps Alex on the shoulder. 

“Thanks, I guess,” Alex shivers as a cold breeze flow through the open door.

“Are you cold? We could close the door, if you want,” Zach says. That was the thing about Zach, he was so conscious of everyone around him, sometimes to the point he cared more about them then himself.

“We don’t have to, if you don’t want to. It’s just chillier than I thought it would be,” Alex says. Zach gets up and shuts the door anyways.

“Do you want my jacket? My letterman's over by the door,” Zach says.

“Wouldn’t that be weird and the guys judge you for that?” Alex asks.

“Oh well, none of the guys are in here so it’s fine,” Zach says. He picks up the letterman from by the door and walks back over to Alex. He wraps the jacket around Alex’s shoulders and Alex continues to put it on. He pushes up the sleeves a bit then gestures to the controllers. 

“We gonna play another round or what?” Zach laughs and joins Alex on the couch grabbing his controller from earlier.

2.

Zach looks at where Alex is. The boy is wearing jeans and a t-shirt. That’d be fine most days, but today Bryce was having a pool party. 

“Hey Alex, can I talk to you for a bit?” Zach walks over to him and asks. Alex raises an eyebrow at him, but nods. Zach leads him off to one of the sitting areas around the pool.

“Why didn’t you bring swim trunks to the party?” Zach asks.

“Because I don’t plan on swimming,” Alex says with his signature,  judgy ‘duh’ face.

“Why not?” Zach asks.

“It’s embarrassing,” Alex replies, leaning against the wall of the pool house.

“It can’t be that bad,” Zach says. He then realizes it could be when he sees Alex subconsciously looking at his hands and twiddling his thumbs nervously, “Or maybe it can?”

“Yeah, it definitely can,” Alex says, “I think I’m just going to leave.” 

“I’ll go too. I brought you here. I don’t want you having to walk home alone,” Zach says. 

“No, Zach, you should stay and have fun,” Alex says.

"That’s the thing, it’s not fun if you’re not here. So, stay and just keep your shirt on. You can borrow my extra pair of swim trunks or we can go to my house and hang out since my mom’s not home,” Zach says.

“We should just leave and go to your house. I really don’t want to be around the guys anymore,” Alex says.

“Okay, are you sure you’re okay, Lex?” Zach asks.

“Can we talk about this in the car?” Alex deflects.

“Uh...yeah, but you have to actually talk about it, okay?”

“Okay.”

The two boys sneak off and make their way to Zach’s car. Once they are there, Zach looks expectedly at Alex. Alex sighs softly before lifting up his shirt, slightly. Zach can still see how absolutely skinny he is, though, but then, he’s sees the more troubling thing. Thin lines making patterns over Alex’s torso. 

“Alex, why?” Zach says, knowing exactly what those lines are.

“It felt right. Life’s just been a lot of pain recently and I needed to let it out and this was the best way I knew,” Alex says.

“Why didn’t you try and call me? I’m your best friend, Al, you’re supposed to tell me about things like this,” Zach says, tears welling up in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry,  Zachy . I just didn’t think you’d understand,” Alex says, tear streaming down his face. Zach wraps his arms around Alex.

“Even if I didn’t, I would’ve for you,” Zach says, “Come on, let’s get you to my house and watch a movie.”

The drive is relatively silent as Alex is curled in the passenger seat, scared he upset Zach and Zach is just trying to figure out he missed the signs that Alex was feeling that down and low.

They get to Zach’s house and get out. The boys walk upstairs and Alex lays on Zach’s bed, while Zach goes off and changes into something else.

“Al, take that tear covered shirt off and put this one on,” Zach tosses a purple t-shirt with a blue video game controller on it.

“Why?” Alex asks, quietly.

“Because that shirt is really wet and I want you to be comfortable,” Zach says, coming over to lay by Alex, “I mean, obviously you don’t have to, if you don’t want to. Again, it’s all about you being comfortable.” 

Alex nods at the statement and start to lift his shirt up to take it off. Sure, he felt nervous about Zach seeing all the cuts, but it would be fine. He felt safe with Zach.

“Oh Al, I’m so sorry I didn’t notice you were hurting this badly,” Zach says, looking at the cuts.

“No, Zach, don’t beat yourself up like that,” Alex says, pulling on the shirt Zach gave him and going to cuddle next to him.

“I could’ve helped you,” Zach says.

“That’s the thing, you stopped me from ending it all,” Alex says.

“You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, Zach.”

3.

Zach looks at Alex’s tiny frame swinging at the park. Zach had gone for a walk and had ended up at this park by complete accident. He sees his best friend’s shoulders shake and decides to go sit with him.

“Hey, Lex,” Zach says, sitting next to Alex on the swing. 

“Hey, Zach,” Alex says, sniffling.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Zach asks.

“Have you really not heard? Hannah killed herself,” Alex says. Of course, Zach had heard. That’s why he was one the walk to begin with. 

“Yeah, I’ve heard, but what does that have to do with you?” Zach asks.

“That list had to be part of why she killed herself,” Alex says.

“Alex, you don’t know that,” Zach says.

“Yeah, I do. So much of her bullying was because of that list,” Alex says, sadly. 

“Alex, so many other things happened to her besides just the list. You can’t blame this all on yourself,” Zach says.

“Oh yeah? How could you possibly know that,” Alex asks.

Zach sighs, pulling out his wallet. He takes out the note Hannah had given to him. “I hurt her very badly because of this note.”

“She wrote it to me and I, basically, just ignored it. I didn’t know what to do,” Zach says, “I was an idiot and a coward and this is what I have to show for it.”

Alex gets off the swing to hug Zach. 

“Zach,” He says, softly. He shivers a bit, which Zach feels.

“Are you cold?” Zach asks. Alex nods.

“You really need to start bringing jackets when you go places,” Zach says. He begins to take off his letterman.

“What are you doing?” Alex asks.

“Giving you my jacket. It’s fine I have another one on,” Zach says, wrapping the jacket around the blond boy.

“How did life get this fucked so quickly?” Zach asks.

“I don’t know.”

4.

Zach bites his nails as he sits at the hospital. Alex had tried to kill himself, but what was more fucked up than that was that Zach was the only one here for him. He’d came as soon as he heard. It hurt to see Alex’s parents completely torn up. Alex’s dad had called him as soon as they got Alex’s phone unlocked and Zach raced over in his car.

The doctor came out and asked to speak with Alex’s parents. A few seconds later, he heard a heart-wrenching sob come from Alex’s mom and sees Alex’s dad hug her, small tears welling up in his eyes. Alex’s brother comes through the elevator at that time and goes to join his family, asking what happened. Zach vaguely hears the word ‘coma.’

Alex was in a coma. He opens the group chat to see what they were saying. Courtney was complaining about how this was bringing attention to them, Ryan was telling her to fuck off because one of their friends was in the hospital dying, Jess and Justin were MIA, Marcus was saying they needed to stay calm, Clay was reading the messages but not responding. Zach couldn’t take it so he sent them a text telling them to shut up and closed his phone. He sighs, putting his head in his hands. He really hated hospitals. 

He waits in the waiting for a little bit longer before Peter comes out and tells him he can see Alex. He follows the older boy to Alex’s room.

He walks in and a wave of emotions hit him. Alex looks absolutely tiny compared to the bed. His mom is sitting on the bed, trying not cry while running her fingers through Alex’s hair.  She looks up and sees Zach walk in and gets up to give him a hug. What was she doing? Her son is dying and she’s over here making sure Zach’s okay.

“You can have a little bit alone with him. I’m going to get some fresh air,” Carolyn says.

“Hey, Lex,” Zach says, “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I wanted you to know I was here. I know you’re going to get better; you have to. You’re stronger than anyone else I know and you’re going to pull through. I wish you could’ve talked to me or that I would’ve picked up the signs better. I don’t know, I shouldn’t have just let it slide when you showed me those cuts. I’m a horrible friend, but once you pull through, and you will, I’m going to be there for you every step of the way. I promise.” Zach takes off his letterman and the jacket he had on underneath it. He puts the light green hoodie next to Alex and slips his letterman back on. 

“Keep that for when you wake up,” Zach says. He stays at the hospital for a few more hours and then goes home. About two weeks later, after visiting Alex every day, Alex’s dad calls him to tell him Alex is awake.

Zach couldn’t believe it. He was so happy. He immediately got in his car and drove as quickly as he could to the hospital. He goes up the stairs and makes a beeline to Alex's room and smiles at the sight he sees.

Alex was awake and wearing the hoodie Zach had left for him.

5.

Zach sits at his desk, playing a video game online with some of his friends from college. They were really bad at this game, but it was fine. He makes a kill and the match ends.

He wonders where Alex is. The other had been staying with him for a few days. Zach guesses he’s still sleeping, but he didn’t know. The two boys had started dating in the summer before college and it had been pure bliss ever since. Zach was sober and happy and Alex was happier and living his best life.

Another match starts up and Zach can see Alex coming out of his room out of his peripherals. Zach sees that he’s walking toward the kitchen, but doesn’t really see anything else as he is too focused on his game. Zach get a kill as Alex walks over to his desk. Alex sets down a Bang on his desk followed by a lot of junk food. Alex, himself, grabs a bag of Doritos and sits on Zach’s leg. Not to where Zach couldn’t see the screen, just sitting there until the match ended. When the match did end, Alex fully got into Zach’s lap and cuddled to his chest. It was only then Zach could appreciate what Alex was wearing.

Alex was wearing a pair of tight black booty shorts and one of Zach coaching t-shirts. Over the top of that, he was drowning in Zach’s letterman. Zach can’t help, but to pick Alex up by the waist, while still sitting down, and adjusting him to where Alex’s legs are wrapped around Zach’s torso as they sit in the chair together. Alex rests his head on Zach’s shoulder and says, “You need to eat something.”

“Okay, gorgeous. By the way, that outfit, super hot,” Zach says. Alex feels his face heat up so much and he hides his face in Zach’s neck.

“Love you, baby,” Zach says.

“Love you too,  Zachy .”

+1

Alex looks at the time on his phone.  _ 10:09 a.m.  _ He sighs. Today was the day him and Zach were going to hang out with their friends. It was the first time since they’d started dating and Alex was very nervous.

“Hey baby, what’s going on? What are you thinking about?” Zach asks, reaching up to run his fingers through Alex’s curly hair.

“Just thinking about us going and meeting our friends,” Alex says, picking at the fabric of his t-shirt. 

“Hey, it’s going to be fine,” Zach says, softly. Zach sits up and pulls Alex into his lap. He brushes Alex’s soft curls out of his eyes. 

“But Charlie’s going to be there-” Alex starts.

“So, Charlie’s known for months and it’s fine. It’s going to be fine, but we need to get ready,” Zach says.

Alex goes to his closet  and grabs a pair of jeans, a button up shirt, one of Zach’s  sweaters and a pair of Converse.  He puts everything on and tucks in the button up and sweater. 

“Aww, you look adorable,” Zach says, when he walks out  of his bathroom, “You ready to go?” 

“Yeah, let’s go ,” Alex says.


End file.
